


The Party Don't Start 'Till I Walk In

by honestmischief



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence - Avengers (2012), Concussions, Established Relationship, Fluffy Ending, Head Injury, Ironhusbands Bingo 2020, M/M, Mind Control, Warning: Loki (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28940862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestmischief/pseuds/honestmischief
Summary: When Loki was unable to control Tony with the scepter, he found another man in a metal suit of armor to take his place.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 57
Collections: Ironhusbands Bingo 2020





	The Party Don't Start 'Till I Walk In

**Author's Note:**

> Title: The Party Don't Start 'Till I Walk In  
> Creators: honestmischief  
> Rating: Teen  
> Warnings: Mind Control, Head Injury  
> Pair: Ironhusbands  
> Squares Filled: B1: Hypnosis  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28940862  
> Summary: When Loki was unable to control Tony with the scepter, he found another man in a metal suit of armor to take his place.  
> Word Count: 2096

“How will your friends have time for me, when they’re so busy fighting you?” Loki asked, raising the scepter up to Tony’s chest. There was a loud ‘clink’ when the tip hit Tony’s arc reactor. 

Tony didn’t feel anything different. The only thing he could see were Loki’s bright blue eyes, staring at him in shock because his scepter didn’t work.

Tony had a joke on the tip of his tongue, but he was interrupted.

“Were you really not going to invite me to the party, Tones?” Rhodey asked from inside his War Machine suit. 

There was a reason why Tony hadn’t called his boyfriend. He wanted Rhodey as far away from Loki as possible. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he ever put Rhodey in an unsafe situation. Tony knew that he could handle this, and then return to Rhodey when it was all over. 

“I was not aware that there is another Iron Man,” Loki stated as he studied War Machine.

“I’m not Iron Man, you horned idiot,” Rhodey said, holding his palm up as his repulsor was getting ready to fire. 

“You may not be, but you will also serve his purpose,” Loki said as he stepped closer to Rhodey.

With a small hand movement, green mist traveled from Loki’s hand to the War Machine suit, causing it to open. Rhodey fell forward out of the suit onto his knees, and Tony immediately ran towards him. 

Unfortunately, he was too late. Rhodey’s eyes were already as blue as the scepter. 

“Get back in your suit,” Loki ordered, and Rhodey complied. 

Tony was frozen. He felt as if his feet were glued to the ground. 

“I will take care of Stark, go find the rest of them.”

Rhodey didn’t even spare a glance at Tony before walking out to the balcony and taking off to the sky. Tony felt a twinge in his chest at the sight of it. Rhodey didn’t deserve this. It should have been him. It was  _ supposed  _ to be him. 

_ “You,”  _ Loki snarled, snapping his head towards Tony’s direction. “You will all fall before me.” 

Tony really wasn’t at the top of his game, considering he had just seen his boyfriend become mind controlled by an alien god. He didn’t get a chance to call for his suit before Loki grabbed him by the neck. 

“Don’t think so,” Tony wheezed. He couldn’t breathe well, Loki wasn’t being gentle. 

“Your friend will be a challenge for your group.” 

Tony knew that was true. He wouldn’t be on the other end of a fight with Rhodey. He was smart, and great at calculating every move while he was in his suit. But Tony wanted to laugh, if he could have. Rhodey was not just a  _ friend.  _ He was much more than that and had been for a long time. 

“However, I think you are going to have another problem,” Loki said lowly into his ear.

Suddenly, Tony was thrown out the window and falling down to the ground. 

“JARVIS!” he immediately exclaimed while tapping his bracelets. 

Tony was lucky. His suit surrounded him just in time, or else he would have ended up as a pancake on the sidewalk. That wouldn’t have been a nutritious breakfast for anyone. 

Tony didn’t know what to do, but he did know that he had to do something. He took off to the sky, in search of Rhodey, because there was no way that he would let him be under Loki’s control any longer than he had to be. He shouldn’t have even been anywhere near Loki, that was why Tony hadn’t called him in the first place. The thought of Rhodey getting hurt because of something that Tony had gotten himself into made him want to scream. 

As Tony continued to search for Rhodey, his thoughts continued to spiral. He had the unfortunate thought of wondering what was going to happen to Rhodey when Loki no longer had use for him if Tony wasn’t able to find him first. It sent a shiver down Tony’s spine and then made him fly through the skies of Manhattan even faster. 

“Rhodey is compromised,” Tony said to the rest of the Avengers, who were all wearing earpieces for communication. He probably should have said something earlier, but he hasn’t been able to think straight since seeing the eerie blue new look of Rhodey’s eyes. He hated it.

“Yeah, we got that,” Clint replied sarcastically. “He’s been shooting at Cap for the past 15 minutes.”

“When did he arrive?” Steve asked. 

“An hour ago. He showed up. I guess he had some FOMO,” Tony responded. “What’s your location?” 

Steve told him where to go, and Tony immediately flew in that direction, ignoring the aliens coming their way. The rest of them could deal with that. Tony had to get back his Rhodey before it was too late. 

When Tony arrived at the scene, Steve was deflecting repulsor shots off of his shield. Rhodey had good aim, but Steve was too quick. He hadn’t been able to get a direct hit. 

“Rhodey, stand down,” Tony said, trying to sound as calm as possible. He was pretty sure he was trembling in his suit, so he most likely failed. 

“No,” Rhodey said. It sounded robotic, and not the usual warm tone of his voice. 

Tony knew that all he needed to do was hit him hard in the head, but it wouldn’t be easy. Rhodey was inside of a protective suit of armor. Going for his head wasn’t an easy shot, and getting close enough to the suit to damage it enough to open would be difficult. 

“Go deal with the murder skaters. I’ll revive our Platypus,” Tony told Steve. 

Steve just gave him a blank stare as he tried to process what Tony had said. It was like he had to decipher a new language. Eventually, he nodded and took off. 

“Come on, Honey Bear. I’m the only one who gets to tell you what to do,” Tony said once he directed his attention back to Rhodey. 

Rhodey fired his repulsor, and Tony neatly side-stepped out of the way. It seemed like Loki was telling Rhodey to attack and it took away Rhodey’s ability to effectively plan his strategy. That was something that Tony could use to his advantage. Loki did not know how to use the War Machine suit, so he couldn’t give Rhodey a sufficient plan. 

“Alright, I guess we’re going to have to do this the hard way. I admit, Rhodey Rhodes, I prefer it much more when you’re the one hurting me, but I guess this will have to do,” Tony rambled, before sending a small rocket from his sleeve towards Rhodey. He knew it wouldn’t be enough to hurt him. It would just slow him down.

The rocket ricocheted off of Rhodey’s left shoulder, leaving a mark. The suit was damaged enough to make it difficult for him to move his left arm, but the suit was still functional enough. Rhodey sent a rocket of his own towards Tony, but he was able to avoid the hit. 

“I’m going to kill that Maleficent-looking bastard,” Tony mumbled to himself. 

“Sir, I believe there is another option you can do first,” JARVIS interjected.

“What do you got, J?” he asked. 

“I am able to take control over the War Machine suit. You installed my programming before one of Mr. Rhodes’ Air Force missions as a preventative measure in case he ran into any issues,” JARVIS explained.

“JARVIS, have I ever told you you’re my favorite?” Tony asked. It was a brilliant idea and Tony couldn’t believe that he hadn’t thought of it earlier. 

“Many times, Sir.”

“Open up his suit,” Tony said. “Override Rhodey’s manual control.” 

The War Machine suit opened, and Rhodey was forced to step out of it. Before Rhodey was able to go back into it, the suit closed and JARVIS piloted it back to the tower where it would be safely stored until Rhodey was ready to use it again. 

Tony’s heart broke when Rhodey’s electric blue eyes made contact with his own. It was an unnatural color that made Tony’s skin feel like it was crawling every time he looked at it. It wasn’t a color that should have been worn by anyone, especially the love of Tony’s life. 

Cognitive recalibration freed Clint from his mind control, but they still didn’t know how it worked. What if Rhodey couldn’t be saved the same way? What if Tony had lost Rhodey forever? If he did, it would feel like Tony had lost a part of himself as well, because he’d been a part of Tony for decades, since the first time they had met at MIT. Tony didn’t know who he was without Rhodey by his side. 

It should have been him instead. Loki had originally wanted him. Tony would gladly be mind controlled by an alien god if it meant that Rhodey would stay safe. 

Loki was right, it should have worked. If it had, Rhodey would be in control of his own mind. 

Tony had to try to fix this. Rhodey deserved a chance. He deserved to be free, happy, and far away from aliens. 

“I’m not going to enjoy this, just in case you think I will later on,” Tony said, before punching him in the head with force from his gauntlet.

Rhodey stumbled backwards upon the contact, but Tony grabbed the upper part of his arms just in time to prevent him from falling. Rhodey was already most likely going to have a concussion, he didn’t want to cause any broken bones either. Tony’s lover blinked, and his eyes returned to their normal brown color that Tony had found himself drowning in many times over the years. 

“You’re back,” Tony said. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

“Loki,” Rhodey gasped, and Tony’s heart dropped down to his stomach. Had he been wrong? “Loki is being controlled too. There’s someone else.” 

“Shit.”

Tony hadn’t expected that. It was hard for Tony to process. Everyone had been blaming all of this on Loki for days. He’d been acting as the frontman of the operation, but it was all a facade. Loki couldn’t be blamed for his actions while he was under the influence of the scepter, just like Rhodey and Clint. They would have to come up with a plan to help him, but first Tony had to make sure that Rhodey was okay. 

“See why I didn’t invite you?” Tony asked with a sheepish grin. He knew that no matter what he said, it wouldn’t be enough. 

Rhodey looked like he was about to speak, but winced instead, probably from the massive headache he had. It was another thing for Tony to feel bad about. 

“We’ve been together for decades, Tones. You’re supposed to invite me to your parties, even the shitty ones,” Rhodey told him, sounding exasperated. 

Rhodey had a point. Tony always invited him to boring parties with board members, and Tony had gone to countless military galas that Rhodey whined about. They’re supposed to be together for both the good times and bad. But was it so wrong to want Rhodey to stay safe? Clearly Tony also had a point, because Rhodey only lasted a few minutes before becoming mind controlled, and it was his fault for leading him there. 

It was all so confusing. Tony didn’t want to harp on it for a little while. He just wanted to be thankful for a few minutes that Rhodey was okay. 

“Man, that wasn’t some ordinary hypnosis. I feel like shit,” Rhodey groaned. 

“Yeah, this isn’t what I meant when I thought going to see a hypnotist would be fun.”

Tony gently grabbed both of Rhodey’s hands. He was still in his suit, so he couldn’t feel Rhodey, but it would have to do. “You’re getting ice cream tonight, Platypus. You can have all of the ice cream. I will have JARVIS buyout Ben and Jerry’s if you want me to,” he told him. 

“Please,” Rhodey said softly. “Kisses too.” 

Tony gave him a small kiss. It was hard for them to kiss with Tony still wearing his helmet and his faceplate lifted up, but he’d never been so thankful to be kissing the love of his life. 

“Nothing too much though, you definitely have a concussion.” 

“So responsible of you. Very out of character,” Rhodey said with a smirk. 

It may have been, but Tony didn’t care. Rhodey deserved the best. 

**Author's Note:**

> I LOVE LOKI PLEASE DON'T COME FOR ME I'D DIE FOR HIM


End file.
